The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing this interim final rule to amend its regulations for the relevant sanctions programs it administers to implement the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015. In particular, this rule adjusts for inflation the maximum amount of the civil monetary penalties that may be assessed under relevant OFAC regulations, including by making conforming changes to OFAC's “Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines.”

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) to implement certain United States Government (USG) commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached on July 14, 2015 between the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union (EU), and Iran. In particular, OFAC is adding to the ITSR general licenses authorizing the importation into the United States of, and dealings in, certain Iranian-origin foodstuffs and carpets and related transactions to implement the USG commitment set out in section 5.1.3 of Annex II and section 17.5 of Annex V of the JCPOA. In addition, to reflect the USG's implementation of its commitment set out in section 4 of Annex II and section 17.4 of Annex V of the JCPOA to terminate Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012, OFAC is removing regulatory provisions that implemented the blocking sanctions in sections 5 and 6 of Executive Order 13622. OFAC is also making certain technical and conforming changes to its regulations to reflect the implementation of the USG commitment set out in section 4.8.1 of Annex II and section 17.3 of Annex V of the JCPOA to remove the individuals and entities set forth in Attachment 3 to Annex II of the JCPOA from OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List, and/or the Non-SDN Iran Sanctions Act List, as appropriate, on Implementation Day of the JCPOA.

Written comments should be received on or before January 6, 2016 to be assured of consideration.

31 CFR Parts 538 and 560

Summary

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is soliciting comments on the effectiveness of OFAC's licensing procedures for the exportation of agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices to Sudan and Iran. Pursuant to section 906(c) of the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (Title IX of Pub. L. 106-387, 22 U.S.C. 7201 et seq. ) (the “Act”), OFAC is required to submit a biennial report to the Congress on the operation of licensing procedures for such exports.